Mortimer's Restaurant, Memphis

This local institution brings a little bit of New Orleans to Memphis, serving dishes such as trout amandine, shrimp wrapped in bacon, catfish and bread pudding. It also offers a selection of steaks and chicken dishes. Desserts, including the bread pudding, are well done here, too. Many people come back again and again for the kahlua or the Granny Smith apple pies. Mortimer's looks the way restaurants looked in your childhood, decked out in what might be called "comfort décor," which matches the comfort food it serves. Memphians are continuing the tradition by bringing their older children here, but over the years the dress has become more casual.